Buttery Apple Streusel Oat Squares

October 26, 2010Angela (Oh She Glows)

by Angela (Oh She Glows) on October 26, 2010

Greetings!

Luckily my mother-in-law warned me of an impending storm today (we might get a tornado tonight!), so that was inspiration to get in the run I was procrastinating all morning. I had a great 4.5 mile run in about 38 mins and a balmy 18C temperature. We are having a heat wave this week and it was so nice to run in the warm weather, even if it was raining.

As for the tornado warning, I’m hoping it doesn’t get that ugly! Right now, it is quite windy and rainy and seems to be picking up…

Crazy, in that I had to put them in the freezer immediately so I didn’t eat them all and I should probably be committed or better yet, in a straitjacket.

Eric and I have been enjoying a square after dinner each night and we arm wrestled over the last square.

It wasn’t pretty, but in the end he split it with me. ;)

As soon as I made the strawberry jam squares, my mind was flooded with ways that I could adapt them…

Apple

Pear

Pumpkin butter

Figs

Sweet Potato or butternut squash

Chocolate banana

Blueberry jam

Up second: Apple Streusel.

Yummy.

Ashley made the oat squares into a lovely apple variety, so I decided to follow suit and used her topping as a guide. I decided to make an apple streusel topping as well, adapting the topping from one of my favourite muffin recipes of all time.

Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Line a square pan (I used a 9×9) with parchment paper and oil the sides of the pan and base. In a medium sized pot, add the apple mixture ingredients (chopped apples, Earth Balance, brown rice or maple syrup, spices). Heat over low, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes, until the apples soften and mixture thickens up.

In a small bowl, mix the chia or flax egg and set aside. In a large bowl, mix the oat base dry ingredients: oats, flour, Sucanat/brown sugar, baking soda, salt. In a small bowl, mix the melted earth balance, maple syrup, almond milk, vanilla, and chia egg. Stir well.

Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix well, using hands if necessary. Set aside 1/2 cup of the oat base mixture if desired. Pour the oat mixture onto the square pan and press down with fingers. Use a pastry roller to smooth out if desired. Pour on cooked apple mixture and smooth out. Make the apple streusel topping by mixing all ingredients together with a fork or fingers. Now sprinkle on the reserved 1/2 cup oat mixture and apple streusel topping and sprinkle over top.

Bake at 350F for approximately 30 minutes. Allow to fully cool for at least 30-40 minutes before gently removing from pan. You can firm them up in the fridge before slicing into squares or bars. The bars also freeze very well (I place them into a container in the freezer).

I ended up using three large Grannies when I decided that two wasn’t enough for the topping!

Peel the apples and slice, slice, slice and chop, chop, chop.

and eat the peel with some cinnamon sprinkled on with a bit of maple syrup. Keep that doc away! ;)

Make the apple mixture on the stove top.

Mix dry ingredients.

By mistake, I added the chia egg to the dry ingredients without thinking, but it technically should have been in the wet ingredients below. Rest assured if you do this too, it will still turn out! :)

Add wet to dry.

Mix it up!

Spread and roll.

Add on Apple Mixture.

Admire the beauty before you.

Make the cinnamon streusel topping.

And cover the top.

Freshly grated cinnamon on top, if desired.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350F and then allow to cool for at least 30 minutes. You can also firm them up in the fridge before slicing as they will be crumbly.

You can make them into squares….triangles…

and even bars!

The verdict?

Delicious. Seasonal. Rustic. Not too sweet.

I forgot to reserve 1/2 cup of the oat mixture to sprinkle on top and I missed it. Next time, I would definitely do that again as it added a fun texture on top. They would also be delicious served with some vanilla ice cream or banana soft serve!

I think I still prefer the strawberry jam variety, but it is a tough call. Other votes shall be placed tonight during Hockey Night in Canada.

If you don’t hear from me tomorrow, the tornado came for my baked goods. You will come looking for me, right?

I wish I could move into your kitchen. Everything you post lately makes my stomach growl. :) I love pretty much any combination of apples and oats, so I am sure that today’s dessert tastes divine.

I’m glad you got your run in early! I had to do the same because the weatherman is calling for serious storms the rest of the week. It was unseasonably warm today in upstate NY, so I was able to run in shorts! Glorious! :)

ahhhh these look to die for! recently i have been eating the “nutrigrain like” bars from barbaras bakery (they are whole grain with no sugar added) an have been lobing how great they taste….but a homemade version would be soooo much better! thanks for the new recipe inspiration!

A tornado! That sounds exciting! I live in England and we just get strong winds-tornados are far more exciting!
Mmm those apple squares look so good! I’m adding them to my (mile long) To-Bake list, which actually consists mainly of your recipes, including the jam ones! You definitely need to publish a recipe book-it would be such a hit! :)

Even though it might not be the case, you look like the tidiest baker I have ever seen!! If I were to mix oats, cinnamon, apples and a bunch of other things in a bowl it wouldn’t look half as good as your photos!! This looks awesome! :D

I’m so jealous you get to watch the games on Tuesday! We don’t have sportsnet or anything, so we only have Saturday games:( We live so close to the ACC that we actually hear the fog horn thingie when they score… but we don’t know what’s going on! So cruel haha.

angela!!! i just made your pumpkin scones (the only changes i made were using butter, an egg, 3 TB brown sugar, and egg wash since that’s what i have and i’m not vegan) and they are AWESOME AND PERFECT AND PRETTY too!!! my coworkers are going to be so impressed and thrilled, and i baked for others without having a perfectionist meltdown which is rare yet nice. ;) they are 20x better than starbucks’. i am pretty sure i will never buy a pumpkin scone again. thanks! you are definitely meant to be a baker…

These look awesome…I love apple crisps and crumbles of all kinds…vegan, baked, raw, you name it, I am a fan! I have a raw/no-bake apple crumble recipe that I love. Anytime one mixes oats, apples, agave or sugar, vanilla together…it’s a success :)

“I had a great 4.5 mile run in about 38 mins and a balmy 18C temperature. ”
I am such an American I couldnt tell you what 18c is. But what I can tell you…is that you’re hella fast, lady! WOW!! You are bookin’ it! Nice speed!!!

When i first saw you post the strawberry ones i immediately was reminded of the apple bars that my mom would make as i was a kid but unfortunately they have cream cheese in them:(:( I made these bars with a cherry filling (for my roommates boyfriend’s party) and they were good but i think that apples would be even better!!

I made the strawberry bars last night and they are to die for! I used Spelt flour for the base ant it turned out great. Your right, I need to freeze them or I will be eating the rest tonight :) Im going to make the apple burritos this weekend. Thanks for all the great recipes!

Thanks for a fabulous recipe Angela! I made these last night and we added cranberries to the apple mixture…perfect touch of tartness! I’ve been following your blog for awhile now and love your recipes and stories ~ thanks for the great recipes and good luck with the Project Food Blog!

I realize this post was published over 3 years ago but I find the recipe soo tempting to make, that I just had to ask you something. Can I substitute coconut oil or anything else for Earth Balance / butter?

Just like you, when I get inspired by a recipe, I usually adapt it to what ingredients I have or can easily find, and also to my taste. I’m planning to do the same with this recipe by using cows milk (plant milks are SO darn expensive here!), brown sugar, a flax egg (or a real one, although I really wanna try the vegan version) and probably something, say honey, instead of maple syrup — or if you have a better suggestion, I’d love to hear it :)

Thank you for the wonderful recipe! I am a great fan of oatmeal in cookies and muffins and I’m sure I’ll just love this one!

I just wanted to say I made this .. cake (to me everything’s called a cake :)) with the tweaks I mentioned above: cows milk, a real egg, honey instead of maple syrup and coconut oil whenever the recipe called for butter/earth balance. It turned out AMAZING and my family loved it, and so did I!

I make alot of your recipes – and they aways turn out SO good. Recently I am on a gluten free diet (& have been trying alot of your gluten free recipes). Just wondering if these apple streusel oat squares have a way of becoming gluten free? Could I sub the kamut flour with another? If so what would be best?
I have a galore of gf flours in my cupoard.

Thanks for your kind words! I’m so sorry for the delay in getting back to your comment. I kept meaning to do so, but got busy. Anyway, you might be able to replace the kamut flour for oat flour, but I haven’t tried this out so it would be an experiment! Let me know how it goes if you try it. Otherwise I will try to put it on my list of recipes to make GF. :)